The 2019 Kansas Legislative session got underway this week and, with its start, the Derby City Council has voiced opinions as to what its members see as most important for the city.
They approved the suggested legislative positions presented by City Manager Kathy Sexton at their Jan. 8 meeting.
One of the city’s top priorities from the state, she said, along with the county’s, is a focus – and funding – on behavioral health.Sexton said she is “really proud of Sedgwick County” for putting the issue at the forefront.
That includes opening a new state mental health hospital in the Wichita area.
This issue is on the council’s priorities list and in the past year’s legislative agenda.
It’s an issue of growing concern and is affecting the city, especially the police, who have to deal with mental health issues along with law enforcement.
“The Derby Police Department routinely encounters people who are endangering themselves or the public and who are unable to get appropriate behavioral health treatment from Osawatomie State Hospital or ComCare due to limitations in their funding and services provided,” Sexton wrote in her report to the council.
Such individuals need medical attention, not “get entangled in a law enforcement and judicial system that is not equipped to help them.”
(Read more: DerbyInformer.com – news,news/)